Four things most people get wrong about Intuitive Eating

In a world where wellness trends have been masquerading as diet trends, there has been a glimmer of hope for people sick and tired of counting calories: ‘Intuitive Eating’ or IE for short. The program was developed by two registered dietitians named Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch in 1995 and aims to help people change their attitude towards food altogether.

Common myths about Intuitive Eating

Nonetheless, as the trending concept on social media platforms has been IE, the guiding tenets of IE have been consistently misunderstood. Following are the four things most people do not know in regard to eating intuitively:

IE is not the ‘hunger and fullness’ diet

‘Eat when you are hungry and stop when you feel full’ is often mistakenly classified under IE because it is simple and, in fact, partly true. However, IE recognises the fact that there is more to eating than just listening to our bodies when they are hungry and when they feel full. Sometimes we eat because a birthday cake looks delicious, or because we have a long meeting and need to ‘fuel up’ even if we aren’t hungry yet. Reducing IE to a mechanical biological response turns it into just another restrictive rule.

It’s not an ‘all you can eat’ free-for-all

The worry that comes with granting oneself unconditional permission to eat could result in such people constantly consuming crisps and chocolate. This is the ‘honeymoon’ term that always applies to the beginning, but the idea, however, is that there should be ’gentle nutrition’. After that, people would obviously feel the need for diversity and would feel better when eating nutritious foods such as vegetables and grains.

It’s not a weight loss tool

This is probably the most common misunderstanding. Many influencers advertise IE as ‘a way to lose weight without even trying’. But the truth is, IE is actually weight-neutral. So when you first begin IE, your weight may go up and down or remain the same. The goal is to focus on mental health and treating your body right.

It involves more than 'listening'

Learning to eat intuitively does not happen overnight. It means undoing a lifetime of messages from diet culture. It means fighting the food police within your brain and dealing with your emotions in ways other than through your mouth. It’s a journey of self-care, not a journey to self-perfection.

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